American Go E-Journal

KINDLE GO? “Any plans for a game of go version for Kindle?” wonders Dave Gagne. “I have chess on my Kindle, but would really like to get a game of go. Have you heard anything?” Though there have definitely been go books published for the Kindle we haven’t yet heard of go playing software for the popular e-reader; email us at journal@usgo.org if you have.

NO GO ALL AT ONCE: “Is there a way to download the Members Game Collections all at once or by month/quarter rather than one by one,” asks Larry. Sorry, Larry, but the game files must be downloaded one at a time from the annual collections of Member’s Edition material.

The 9th Jeongganjang Cup ended today with a final showdown between Rui Naiwei 9P (playing for China) and Park Jieun 9P of Korea.

Rui resigned after 160 moves, but not before plenty of middle game excitement. With this, the Korean women’s baduk team have won their fourth Jeongganjang Cup. Last week Rui stood alone against four Korean opponents and managed to fight her way to Park in a three game streak. Unfortunately for Rui she fell just short of making it four wins (in four days) and taking the Cup back for China.

Rui Naiwei (left) and Park Jieun review the game

A special mention needs to go to Moon Dowon 2P, who set a new record by winning seven consecutive matches in stage one of this tournament. Moon single handedly eliminated most of the Japanese and Chinese teams, setting things up nicely for Korea.

Like the Capistrano swallows, Guo Juan 5P is returning to The Woodlands for another workshop Memorial Day weekend. Guo — a popular teacher and longtime E-Journal contributor — has held twelve workshops at The Woodlands in Round Top, New York over the last seven years. The workshop start with a lecture late on Friday evening May 27 and ends Monday, May 30 after lunch. The format is the typical workshop format with a mixture of lectures, games and game analysis. The Woodlands is an informal inn with over 20 bedrooms. Click here for details and to register.

Takemasa Miyoshi 9k topped the 6-player field at the John Groesch Memorial held on Sunday, March 20 at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. Takemasa (l), currently a Research Assistant Professor in the department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science at UMD was undefeated in the three-round tournament. “The final game against Nate Eagle 10k was a nail-biter,” reports organizer Steve Mount (r), “which Takemasa won by a half-point.” Other two-game winners were Gurujeet Khalsa 9k and Zarathustra Goetzel 10k.

The United States Youth Go Championships (USYGC) drew 58 kids and teens on March 26. Contestants vied for the top slot in five different sections. Dan level youth also competed for entry into a qualifier for the World Youth Go Championships, which will be held next week. Calvin Sun 7d again topped the Senior Dan Division, with a perfect record. Sun, who has represented the US four times in a row as USYGC champ, is required to take a year off from the WYGC, and will not be competing in the qualifier. The Ing Foundation, which sponsors the event, just changed the age limit to under 16 for the Senior Division. While this unfortunately disqualified several U.S. youth, the tourney allowed all of them to participate in the USYGC Qualifier anyway. Eligible finalists who will be advancing on for the right to represent the U.S. at the World Youth are Hugh Zhang 7d, Andrew Lu 6d, Vincent Zhuang 5d, and Yunxuan Li 2d (who pulled a surprise upset by defeating several four dans). In the Junior League (under 12) Aaron Ye 3d, Sammy Zhang 2d, Luke Zhang 1d, and Jeremy Chiu 1d will all compete in the finals next week. Both Senior and Junior division games will start at 9 am PT, Saturday the 2nd, in the AGA Tournaments room on KGS. Calvin Sun 7d is the National High Dan Champion, and Yunxuan Li now holds the title for National Low Dan Champion, Senior Division.

The kyu level tourney was equally exciting, with kids ranked from 1k to 19k duking it out in multiple bands. April Ye 3k is the new Single Digit Kyu (SDK) Champion in the 1-4k bracket, Senior Division, while Larry Qu 4k is the new Junior Division Champ. In the 6-10 kyu bracket, top honors went to Joey Phoon 6k in the Senior, and Raymond Liu 10k in the Junior. Bennett Ji 11k won the Senior in the 11-19k bracket, and Julian Erville 11k won in the Junior. Winners will be receiving trophy plaques with their names and titles, $400 scholarships to the US Go Camp, and gift certificates for audio go lessons from Guo Juan’s Internet Go School. The USYGC was run by tournament directors Paul Barchilon and Jeff Shaevel.
- Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor

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Anonymous 5 kyus
March 2011
Gaithersburg, MD
Anonymous 5 kyu players
Commentary by Yuan Zhou 7D
SGF file created by Bill Cobb and Chris Garlock
Published in the March 21, 2011 edition of the American Go E-Journal

Both players trade strategic and tactical errors in this game, which is thoroughly analyzed by regular E-Journal contributor Yuan Zhou 7d, one of the strongest players in the US. Yuan Zhou has won many titles; his most recent achievement was placing fifth in the Korea Prime Minister Cup–the highest finish ever for the USA representative. Zhou is also a popular teacher, lecturer, and author. He lives in Germantown, MD.

BELGIANS LAUNCH “GO4JAPAN”: A go club in Belgium has “switched our upcoming tournament to a support rally for the people of Japan” in the wake of the recent earthquake/tsunami, reports local organizer Joost Vannieuwenhuyse. “Already countries like Germany, Spain and Czechia are thinking about, or planning to host similar events,” Vannieuwenhuyse tells the E-Journal. Hoping to make this “a global initiative in the go-playing community,” the Belgium club has launched a Facebook page under the name “GO4 Japan” where others who want to organize their own local events can communicate and coordinate efforts. “Our club, as well as the organization of the Basel tournament in Switzerland will be giving all the registration fees from our tournament to the Japanese Red Cross Society,”adds Vannieuwenhuyse, suggesting that “It would be nice to also see some events there that take place in the US.” “I hope this way we, as go-players, can give back some support, no matter how big or small, to a country that meant and still means so much for this hobby, passion, life of ours. And to offer at least some relief to the people who are suffering from this ongoing disaster.”ISRAEL HOSTS JAPAN SUPPORT TOURNEY ON MARCH 30: : An “Identifying day with Japan” has been organized for Wednesday, March 30th in Rosh HaAyin, Israel. The home of both current and previous Israeli go champions, Rosh HaAyin’s mayor joined the effort “with enthusiasm,” reports Shavit Fragman, President of the Mind chain of go clubs in Israel. Money collected at tournament will be delivered to the Japanese embassy, and the event will also include a Tree of Wishes, origami crane folding — in Japan, it’s commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a wish come true — and lectures about Japanese culture and the recent disasters in that country.UK YOUTH EVENT RAISES £150 FOR JAPAN RELIEF: At the just-concluded Youth Championships in Oxfordshire, England, £150 — the result of a collection, together with the proceeds from the event– was sent to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

Twenty five adults and kids escaped the pouring rain this past Saturday to play in the Bay Area Go Players Association monthly ratings tournament. The event, held May 19 at the Ing Goe Center in Menlo Park, CA, drew players ranging from 7 dan to 20 kyu. Four played in a rated tournament for the very first time. The young ones ruled the day, with six of the eight top game winners under the age of 12. In the Dan division, Zhirui Yang 6d and Richard Malcolm 2d each won three games. In the Kyu division, Larry Qu 3k and Ciaran Fitzgerald 20k (right, in photo) won four games apiece. The next Bay Area Go tournament is coming up April 9 in Palo Alto, CA.- report/photo by Roger Schrag

Mazhar Warraich of Aston was the overall winner at the May 20 British Youth Go Championships in Oxfordshire, England. Warraich topped a field of 24 competitors aged 7-18, with strengths from 2 dan to 30 kyu. Thanks to Pelican Books and author Chris Bradford, the main prize winners received copies of “The Ring of Water” and as the result of a collection, together with the proceeds from the event, £150 was sent to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal. Click here for full results.- Jon Diamond

David Ward 3d won his local tournament, the Cambridge Trigantius, without having to share the title as he did in 2000. Thirty six players took part in the March 12 event at St Columba’s Church in the center of Cambridge, England. Other players winning all three games were Michael Charles 1k (St Albans), Brook Roberts 4k (Cambridge) and Jan Poslusny 6k (Prague). The 13×13 was won by Juan Leonardo Martínez-Hurtado 15k (Cambridge) and the animal puzzles were solved by Patrick Batty (South London). Nine novices, including four complete beginners, attended the parallel novices’ event. No prize was awarded, because the tournament turned into another teaching session instead, but special commendations must go to Jack Chen, Sam Austin and Mark Slatter for their progress during the day.- Jon Diamond